Health
and
Human
Services
Secretary

Robert
F.
Kennedy
Jr.
on
Saturday
ripped
the
press
and
politicians
he
accused
of
“trying
to
scare”
Americans
about
the
threat
of
infectious
diseases.

“The
media
and
certain
demagogue
politicians
are
constantly
trying
to
scare
us
about
infectious
disease,
and
we
take
the
attention
away
from
the
chronic
disease
that
is
being
caused
by
powerful
entities,
by
big
food
companies,
by
big
pharmaceutical
companies,”
Kennedy
said
at
a

Fox
News
town
hall.

The
health
secretary’s
remarks
came
two
days
after
he
accused
Democratic
Pennsylvania
Gov.

Josh
Shapiro’s
team
of
fabricating
two
deaths
linked
to
an
ongoing
measles
outbreak
in
Lancaster
County.

The
health
secretary

claimed
on
X
that
the
county’s
coroner
said
“it
has
no
record
of
any
measles
deaths,”
adding
that
state
law
“requires
that
all
measles
deaths
be
reported
to
the
coroner.”

When
asked
by
a
town
hall
guest
Saturday
whether,
in
light
of
the
deaths,
the
measles,
mumps
and
rubella
vaccine
should
be
mandatory,
Kennedy
doubled
down
Saturday
on
his
doubt
of
Shapiro.

“There
was
a
press
conference
by
the
governor.
It
was
highly
politicized,
and
we
saw
a
lot
of
the
sort
of
old
COVID
playbook
rolled
out,
where
there
was
finger-pointing
and
politicizing
and
fearmongering,”
Kennedy
said.

Kennedy
accused
the
governor
of
being
“unwilling
to
share
any
information”
with
county
officials
regarding
the
purported
deaths.

“They’re
making
claims
that
nobody
can
validate,”
he
said.
“The
press,
of
course,
repeats
them
because
they
love
doing
that,
but
the
press
should
be
asking
the
question:
Where
are
these
kids?
And
asking
the
governor,
’Why
isn’t
he
sharing
that
with
the
county,
which
he’s
legally
obligated
to
do?”

The
number
of
measles
cases
in
the

U.S.
this
year
has

already
surpassed
last
year’s
record-breaking
total.

Kennedy,
known
for
his
history
of

vaccine
skepticism,
has

endorsed
the
MMR
vaccine,
though
his
messaging
has

been
mixed.

On
Saturday,
the
health
secretary
said
the

global
measles
epidemic
was
fueled
by
children
not
getting
vaccinated
during
COVID-19
lockdowns,
as
well
as
“a
lot
of
people
across
the
globe”
losing
“faith
in
the
public
health
system”
amid
the
pandemic.

Despite
the
increase
in
measles
cases,
Kennedy
suggested
that
HHS
has
other
priorities.

“What
I’m
trying
to
do
as
HHS
secretary,
one,
deal
with
the
infectious
disease
outbreaks,
which
we’re
doing,
but
also
redirect
attention
and
resources
to
the
thing
that’s
really
killing
Americans,
which
are
foodborne
diseases.”